Name ____________________________
English II Honors
“A Contest of Persuasion” Part 1
Annotate both of the following speeches using the directions below (1-6). Then, answer questions 7-8.
1. Circle key terms
2. Underline claims
3. Write “e” next to examples of ethos.
4. Write “p” next to examples of pathos.
5. Write “l” next to examples of logos.
6. Right margin: summarize each stanza.
7. Answer when you have analyzed both speeches: Who do you think did the better job in his use of
rhetoric to convince the crowd? _______________________________
8. Why? _____________________________________________________________________.
Julius Caesar
Act III Scene 2 (Antony’s funeral speech)
ANTONY
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after
them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest-For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men-- Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. He
hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this
ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus
spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come
back to me.
Name ____________________________
English II Honors
First Citizen
Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
Second Citizen
If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong.
Third Citizen
Has he, masters?
I fear there will a worse come in his place.
Fourth Citizen
Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown; Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.
First Citizen
If it be found so, some will dear abide it.
Second Citizen
Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
Third Citizen
There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.
Fourth Citizen
Now mark him, he begins again to speak.
ANTONY
But yesterday the word of Caesar might
Have stood against the world; now lies he there. And none so poor to do him reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet, 'tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament-- Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-- And they would go and kiss dead
Caesar's wounds
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy Unto their issue.
Fourth Citizen
We'll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony.
All
The will, the will! We will hear Caesar's will.
ANTONY
Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will
make you mad: 'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; For, if you should, O, what would come of it!
Name ____________________________
English II Honors
Act III Scene 2 (Brutus’ funeral speech)
BRUTUS
Be patient till the last.
Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be
silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have
respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in
your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better
judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's,
to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his.
If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar,
this is my answer:
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.
Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than
that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved
me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he
was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew
him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour
for his valour; and death for his ambition.
Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any,
speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that
would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I
offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country?
If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.
All
None, Brutus, none.
BRUTUS
Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than
you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in
the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy,
nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death.
Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR's body Here comes
his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, though he had no
hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place
in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not?
With this I depart,--that, as I slew my best lover for the good of
Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please
my country to need my death.
All
Live, Brutus! live, live!